Mark Millar has on more than one occasion talked about how he feels there is an 'expiry date' on writing for comics. He (and I am working from memory here) said that he thinks a writer past the age of 45 loses its relevance/connection with the kids.

Of course that doesn't mean one has to stop working in comics. There's plenty of examples of over 45-ers who still create successful work in and out of the mainstream.

My question: Do you agree with the idea that you can only stay relevant for so long in a populist medium before you lose your touch and start to become too self-referential/start repeating yourself?

I've been wondering about Millar's statement, partly because I think its a bit far fetched — look at any other creative industry, film for example, and there's loads of over people over 45 creating entertainment that gets eaten up by the 14-25 demographic — but at the same time I can see what he means that there comes a point where you have to let go and do your own thing before you get swallowed up by the machine.

He (and I am working from memory here) said that he thinks a writer past the age of 45 loses its relevance/connection with the kids.

I think he probably has a point. But Mark writes things like ULTIMATE AVENGERS while I'm writing sweary textbooks about fairly obscure European battles of the 14th Century. It's something Mark has to be concerned about. I'm currently poring over maps of central Sarajevo circa 1914. If you see what I mean.

I think he probably has a point. But Mark writes things like ULTIMATE AVENGERS while I'm writing sweary textbooks about fairly obscure European battles of the 14th Century. It's something Mark has to be concerned about. I'm currently poring over maps of central Sarajevo circa 1914. If you see what I mean.

Oh yeah of course its very dependent on your audience and what you're writing. So do you see yourself pouring over old maps in 10-15 years time or will you have moved on/phased out of comics slightly?

EDITED TO ADD: I know thats one of those horribly vague questions, but the thing I'm getting at is, personally, I see myself design the things I do now and expand on that in the next 10-15 years (of course I'm younger as well), but in my field of creative industry its not unheard of designers in their 70s still cranking out work that gets appreciated by the masses. I might be digging a hole here.

i fail to understand how any human being can write the amount that you do whilst also eating, sleeping and communicating with other humans (online or otherwise). what kind of timetable are you working with? including sleep.

My backups all got corrupted, and my backup device died. I'll fix that on Sunday, I thought, as I was under deadline pressure. Saturday evening, my main machine died in flames. Sent it off for data recovery. The guy running the data recovery shop took it in and then went off to Europe for an operation. And died on the operating table. Came back to the shop to get my machine, because no-one was answering the phone, to find it boarded up, the (mostly off-the-books, apparently) employees scattered to the four winds, and the shop stripped down to the plaster. Not a computer left in there -- not even mine.

I keep thinking I ought to ask something but can't come up with a single question, so I'll just say that, if it's got the name Warren Ellis on the writing credit, I'll at the bare minimum take a look and 90% likely buy it.

I didn't realize the Dead Space situation sucked that badly. You'd think, when they hired a writer, they'd be smart enough to listen. There's a reason I don't consider story in video games important is that it generally isn't. There are exceptions, of course. Ico and Shadow of the Colossus spring to mind instantly, but in general a game's personality being good (Katamari Damacy, for example) is the best you can hope for. It's be nice if they had at least a little respect for the craft, though.

"I knew an actress so stupid, when she tried to get in a movie she fucked the writer!" *laugh track*

I really, really enjoy Do Anything, both for the little tidbits of history that it brings to light and for the fun of trying to make it make sense. I've also recently started rereading Planetary, and it seems there's an awful lot of Do Anything in there, both thematically and in the dialogue. Is that intentional, or am I just hallucinating connections where there really aren't any?